【推荐1】The brain of a woodpecker (啄木鸟) experiences a seemingly catastrophic impact every time its beak (喙) meets wood. “When you see these birds with hard beaks, flexible tongues and strong neck muscles in action, hitting their head against a tree quite violently, then as humans we start wondering how these birds avoid getting headaches or brain damage,” says Van Wassenbergh, a researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

In the past, scientists have suggested the bird’s brain is protected from the impacts, perhaps by a beak that absorbs some of the force, or something in its head that acts as a cushion (缓冲物). But Van Wassenbergh wasn’t convinced. So he led a team to settle the issue using high-speed video of woodpeckers in action.The videos revealed some remarkable details. For example, “they close their eyes at the moment they impact the wood,” Van Wassenbergh says, to protect their eyes from pieces of wood.

The videos also showed that woodpeckers’ beaks often get stuck in the wood. But they break free almost instantly, thanks to a clever beak design that provides independent motion of the upper and lower beak.

What the videos did not show is any sign that the woodpecker’s brain is somehow cushioned. “The way we see the head behaving is very rigid, like a tool hitting wood,” Van Wassenbergh says. That means the organ repeatedly experiences slowdowns that would cause an injury in a human brain.

Yet the woodpecker brain is unharmed, even after thousands of impacts in a single day. That is possible because a woodpecker’s brain is protected—not by cushioning, but by its tiny size and weight, Van Wassenbergh says. “An animal that has a smaller size can stand higher slowdowns” he says. “That’s a biomechanical law.”

That idea was suggested in 2006 by Lorna Gibson, a professor at MIT. Now, it has been confirmed by Van Wassenbergh’s high-speed videos.A woodpecker’s brain is about 700 times smaller than a human brain. “That is why even the hardest hits we observed are not expected to cause any injury,” Van Wassenbergh says.

1. What does the underlined word “catastrophic” in paragraph l probably mean?

A．Disastrous.

B．Essential.

C．Unrelated.

D．Insignificant.

2. Which of the following did the videos show about the woodpecker?

A．Its beak can absorb some force.

B．Its pecking rates slow down gradually.

C．Its eyes are closed when it is pecking.

D．Its upper and lower beak must work together.

3. What protects the woodpecker’s brain from injury according to Van Wassenbergh?

A．Its cushioned brain.	B．Its tiny size and weight.
C．Its rigid head behavior.	D．Its cl ever beak design.

4. How might Lorna Gibson feel on hearing about Van Wassenbergh’s research?

A．Angry.

B．Surprised.

C．Doubtful.

D．Appreciative.

【推荐3】You’ve probably heard this before. In a society that praises productivity and business, it seems funny to talk about being bored as a good thing. We like being productive, but moments of boredom are actually good for our lives. Here are the reasons:

Boredom is necessary for creativity.

Often new ideas come to you when you let go of doing or thinking too much. It feels like they come out of nowhere, but they are actually born when you’ re bored or when you’re looking for something fresh.     1     It’s because they get bored so easily and, want to try something else.

Boredom can help you with your productivity.

The two aren’t exclusive, but they complement(补充)each other. They’re often like yin and yang if you will.    2       Having one without the other could have a harmful influence on us.

Being bored encourages reflection.

    3     It can also encourage you to think a lot about yourself, which will help you see where you’ re headed. It’s like taking a break from your actions and seeing them like an outsider.

    4    

Our brains need to cool down and take a break from everything. And what better way to do this is there than taking a break or going to sleep? Feeling bored can give you a better chance of getting a good night’s sleep. Waking up rested the next day will only increase your productivity.     5    .

A．No wonder kids can be so creative.

B．Boredom can help you get some rest.

C．Boredom teaches you about time management.

D．You will feel like giving your boredom a big thanks.

E．People usually can’t sleep because their minds are too active.

F．Boredom can help you look within more and examine what’s in there.

G．Moments of activities require moments of slowing down and doing nothing.

【推荐1】It would be very exciting to be a reporter on a newspaper. As soon as a reporter’s boss gives him a story to write, the reporter is on the job. He keeps his mind on what he is going to do. He does not begin writing the story until he knows what he should find out. He must know why he should write the story.
At times a reporter must search hard to find all of the facts he needs for a story. The facts may not be right under his nose. To find the facts, he has to recognize important details. While gathering information for a story, he asks himself questions：Should I use this information? Is this an important fact?
A reporter writes the story as fast as he can, so it can go right away into the newspaper. The story also needs a headline, which tells very quickly what the news story is about and is printed bigger and blacker than the rest of the news story.
Every big newspaper has many reporters，because many stories are needed in the newspaper. Would you like to be one？
1. A reporter writes the story as fast as possible because ________________.

A．he wants it to go into the newspaper quickly

B．people prefer to buy today’s newspaper

C．he wants to have a rest

D．he is good at writing it

2. Which statement is true according to the passage?

A．Being a reporter is a tiring job.

B．It is easy for a reporter to find the facts.

C．The headline must tell the details of the news story.

D．A reporter begins to write when knowing what he should find out.

3. Which is the writer’s opinion?

A．A reporter’s boss is usually very hard to his men.

B．The job of a newspaper reporter is exciting but not easy.

C．Everyone can write a good news story.

D．No one likes to be a reporter.

4. The passage is about ______________.

A．the job of a news reporter

B．big newspapers in the world

C．how to write the headline of all articles

D．how to gather information for a news story

【推荐2】A campaign in the United Kingdom that seeks to pressure publishers to stop labeling children’s books according to gender(性别) is being given a push, with leading writers and at least one newspaper expressing support.

“We’re asking children’s publishers to take the ‘Boys’ and ‘Girls’ labels off books and allow children to choose freely what kinds interest them.” says the statement by the Let Books Be Books campaign. The organizers of the campaign say, “Such labels send out very limiting massages to children about what kinds of things are appropriate for girls or for boys.”

On Sunday, the movement got an important advance when the newspaper The Independent announced it would no longer comment on such books, or even blog about them. “Happily, as the literary editor of The Independent, there is something that I can do about this. So I promise now that the newspaper and this website will not be reviewing any book which is aimed at just girls, or just boys. Nor will The independent’s books section.” wrote editor Katy Guest.

The Guardian reports that one of Britain’s biggest bookstore chains, Waterstones, as well as U.K. Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman, and U.K. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy have also announced their support. “The campaign is attacking titles such as Usborne’s Illustrated Classics for Boys, described by the publisher as ‘a collection of action, adventure and daring-do stories suitable for boys,’ while its Illustrated Stories for Girls contains ‘brand new stories about princesses and dolls,’ ” The Guardian wrote.

But such a movement would also affect many popular and beloved books, such as the best selling The Dangerous Book for Boys. It’s clear not everyone thinks removing “for boys” and “for girls” from book titles is such a good idea. Many of The Independent’s readers are criticizing the newspaper’s announcement that it is banning reviews of such books.

“This is just stupidity,” wrote one reader on The Independent’s website. “The Independent has been an intelligent publication in my mind since I was a very young boy. So sad to see that change.”

1. What is The Let Books Be Books campaign?

A．It teaches kids about appropriateness.

B．It opposes gendered children’s books.

C．It aims to offer help to writers and newspapers.

D．It advises publishers to help children choose books.

2. How will The Independent react to the campaign?

A．Stop reviewing books labeled with “Boys” or “girl”.

B．Publish more children’s books on its website.

C．Provide more book reviews every Sundays.

D．Encourage children to review books.

3. What does Blackman think about the books mentioned in Paragraph4?

A．They aren’t suitable for children.

B．They shouldn’t have similar titles.

C．They include too many adventure stories.

D．They should be open to kids of either gender.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To comment on some popular children’s books.

B．To report the recent progress of a cultural campaign.

C．To discuss some big changes in the world’s book market.

D．To explain the differences between books for boys and girls.

【推荐1】Are people happier in nature with blue skies overhead and fresh green grass underfoot? Could noisy streets, crowded with cars and people, make us unhappy? The possible mental health effects of city living affects a lot of people. The World Health Organization estimates (预计) that 57 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas in 2019. The WHO adds that that amount will increase to 66 percent by 2050. People often move to cities for better jobs and more cultural activities. But are they putting themselves at risk? Maybe.

Many studies have shown nature can calm us and make us feel happy. Nature, experts say, can also help us learn better. And experiencing nature helps people recover from the mental tiredness that comes from day-to-day work. Other research also suggests activity in natural outdoor settings can help to reduce the symptoms (症状) of Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) in children. ADHD (注意力不集中症) is a brain disorder that can effect a person’s ability to think clearly.

Andrea Mechelli is a doctor with the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London. “There have been studies where people were literally taken out of an urban environment into a rural environment, and their symptoms would improve. And we also see the greater the city, the greater the risk,” he says.

Kings College researchers wanted to learn more about city living and mental illness. So, they created a smartphone app called Urban Mind. The Urban Mind app measures your experience of city living in the moment. Researchers collected real time information from 108 people. They found “being outdoors,seeing trees, hearing birdsong, seeing the sky, and feeling in contact with nature were associated with higher levels of mental well-being. ”They also found these seeming effects of nature were especially strong in those individuals at greater risk of mental health problems.

1. Why does people move to cities?

A．To seek a better living surroundings.

B．To experience blue skies and green grass.

C．To make themselves out of potential risks.

D．To obtain better jobs and more cultural activities.

2. How to reduce a child’s symptoms of ADHD?

A．Go into a rural environment.	B．Get involved in indoor activities.
C．Stay in a relatively bigger city.	D．Get away from living in rural areas.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Mental well-being has nothing to do with nature.

B．City-living has many advantages over country-living.

C．Mental health is closely connected with living environment.

D．The Urban Mind app is designed to help people experience rural life.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．What’s the Real Healthy Lifestyle?

B．Does City Living Hurt Mental Health?

C．Differences of Urban Life and Rural Life

D．More and More People Crowd into Big Cities

【推荐2】Tang Dynasty poets sang for about three centuries in different tones. There were many famous poets living in the Tang period, such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi and Li Shangyin. The Complete Poetry of Tang Dynasty edited in the Qing Dynasty is a collection of more than 48,900 poems that were written by over 2,200 poets. But it didn’t cover all the poems of the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, poems were recited when lovers walked under the moonlight. Poems were also recited when soldiers fought on the battlefield. People recited them in the open air or at temple fairs.

Tang Dynasty poets wrote poems to win fame and also to develop their temperaments(性情). They poured out deep feelings for their friends and criticized injustice in the world through poems.

In the Tang Dynasty scholars had to be poets. Their readers were not only people of high social position but also common people. Poets recited poems, women singers sang poems and other ranks of people, including old women and children, read Tang poems. This atmosphere affected foreigners who visited the country at that time. As a result, Tang poetry was introduced to some adjacent countries, like Japan and Vietnam.

Tang poetry is a most brilliant page in the history of ancient Chinese literature. It’s a miracle in the cultural history of mankind. The Tang Dynasty was a powerful empire with a vast territory. It inherited Chinese civilization that went back to ancient times, which was combined with the best of other cultures and adopted the benefits of other nations in the world. Tang poetry wasn’t the only spiritual wealth created by the Tang Dynasty people. Philosophy and religion, handwriting and painting, and music and dance all reached new peaks of development, Tang poetry, however, was the jewel in the crown and its greatest achievement.

1. Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?

A．Why the poets created poems.

B．The editors of The Complete Poetry of Tang Dynasty.

C．Some other kinds of spiritual wealth in the Tang Dynasty.

D．The significance and influence of the Tang Dynasty.

2. What does the underlined word “adjacent” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．rich

B．strong

C．poor

D．neighbouring

3. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．The Great Tang Dynasty

B．Famous Poets in the Tang Dynasty

C．Tang Dynasty Poetry

D．The Development of the Tang Dynasty

【推荐3】While retiring ahead of time may be easier on the body, a new set of research has found that it may not be so beneficial to the mind. The study, carried out at Binghamton University, finds that an early retirement can speed up the usual rate of cognitive (认知的)decrease among the elderly.

The research team studied China's new rural pension (退休金)system, as well as China's most recent Retirement Longitudinal Survey ( CHARLS), in order to look into the effects of early retirement and pension benefits on individual cognition among adults over the age of 60. After going over all of the data, the research team noted a clear direction: people receiving pension benefits were experiencing much more rapid mental decline (智力下降)than those still on the workforce. Surprisingly, women seemed to experience even sharper mental decline after retiring early. Overall, the results support the view that decreased mental activity speeds up cognitive decline.

Nikolov, the lead researcher, had actually carried out former studies that found retirement led to a number of physical health benefits for retirees, such as improved sleep patterns, less stress, and reduced alcohol consumption. However, retirement also usually goes with a decline in social activities and less communication with people, which has also been linked to cognitive decline.

“For cognition among the elderly, it looks like the bad effect on social connection is more than the good effect of the program on fitness and sleep,” Nikolov says. “ Or social connection may simply be the single most powerful factor for cognitive performance in old age.”

The research team are hopeful that their findings will be considered by older adults when thinking about retirement, but perhaps more importantly, they hope that policy makers in developing countries take note while drawing up new pension plans. They suggest building social get-togethers and work shops for recent retirees to help cut down the decline in social communication and creative thinking that often comes along with retirement.

1. Which of the following best describes retiring ahead of time for the mind?

A．Useless.

B．Beneficial.

C．Damaging.

D．Improving.

2. Who mentally suffered most according to the research?

A．Men retiring on former plan.	B．Women over the age of 60.
C．Men retiring ahead of time.	D．Women retiring early.

3. What will retirement bring to the elderly?

A．Shorter sleep time.	B．Fewer social activities.
C．More financial stress.	D．Less time with family members.

4. What can we learn about the research team's suggestion?

A．The government should make new policy.

B．People should build more shops for the elderly.

C．The retirement in developing countries should be common.

D．The newly retired people should communicate more.